Inside the Star

Is 'Indian' a derogatory word?

As artistic director of Native Earth Performing Arts, a theatre company dedicated to "artistic expression of the Aboriginal experience in Canada," Yvette Nolan well understands the power of words to both harm and to heal.

As artistic director of Native Earth Performing Arts, a theatre company dedicated to "artistic expression of the Aboriginal experience in Canada," Yvette Nolan well understands the power of words to both harm and to heal.

On the wall above her desk hangs a photo published in the Star in October 2006. Taken at a Caledonia rally to protest the occupation by those from the Six Nations reserve who claim that land slated for a housing development belongs to native people, the photo shows a protester holding a sign that reads, "Get a job, you filthy Indians."

Nolan, an Algonquin, considers "Indian" to be an outdated and derogatory word for which to label Canada's aboriginal peoples and was incensed by the sign's crude message. Still, she ordered a copy of the photo and hung it above her desk as a vivid reminder of the importance of the theatre company's mission to "communicate to our audiences the experiences that are unique to Native people in contemporary society."

Public education about language, labels and the right to self-identify is an ongoing role for this theatre company. For last month's debut of A Very Polite Genocide or The Girl Who Fell to Earth, an exploration of aboriginal identity and the "scar tissue" of the residential school system, Native Earth provided reviewers with an "education guide." That guide clearly articulated the company's view that "Indian" is "archaic and offensive.

"To use the term Indian when referring to Aboriginal people is considered derogatory," it states.

So how come, despite that information, the Star's Dec. 11 review twice used the word "Indian" to reference aboriginal people, not surprisingly causing much outrage within this theatre company and the wider aboriginal community?

It's important to note that there was no intent to offend here. Still, I understand why offence was taken. Though freelance theatre critic Mark Selby, mindful of Native Earth's guidance, used the word "aboriginals" in the review he wrote, a Star copy editor changed that to "Indians."

That editor, who had not seen the theatre company's education guide, did so in line with a long-time Star style dictum that tells journalists here "to avoid the terms First Nations, natives and aboriginals as nouns" and further adds that, "The word Indian, while objectionable to some is still perfectly useable."

When informed of this, the theatre group called on the Star to find "more respectful ways to refer to Aboriginals," saying that it considers the Star's policy on this to be, "as educated as Christopher Columbus was an expert navigator."

The Star's usage of "Indian" and whether we are now out of step with current sensitivities is a matter that's concerned me for some time. Though I know the newsroom has given this much thought in the past, whenever "Indian" is used in the paper or on the website, it triggers numerous complaints from readers who do indeed find it offensive.

The newsroom style committee met this week to reconsider this. Though we generally agreed that "Indian" is outdated, we also concurred that since "Indian" has legal meaning under Canada's Constitution and our Indian Act, it's not a word that can or should be banned outright in the Star.

The style committee will now seek input from the major organizations that represent Canada's estimated 1 million aboriginal peoples (legally comprised of Indians, Inuit and Métis) to determine if there is consensus that "Indian" is now considered offensive (as even the website of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada suggests).

For me, a clear case can be made that, given that so many Star readers do indeed seem to find "Indian" offensive, its usage should be carefully considered and used only when applicable in a legal context.

We simply must consider the strong sensitivities here. The Star, in line with the style guide of The Canadian Press, should respect aboriginal peoples' preferences about how they wish to be identified. According to CP, writers should, "Use Indian with discretion" and "In all references be guided by the preferences of those concerned."

I'll give the last words here to Nolan who finds it "mindboggling" that the Star has not come to realize that "Indian" has become offensive to many and that aboriginal peoples' right to self-identification matters greatly here. "When I saw us called Indian in the Star's play review, it reminded me of that photo in the paper and some white guy telling me to 'get a job,' " she told me. "To me, that's who we are all trying to talk to and that's how big the abyss still is.

"The play itself is about how the naming of things gives or takes away their power," she said. "There is power in naming, in every tradition."

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